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Greg J Dixon
More About: Religion: BelieversRon Paul - the only Congressman to stand up against the IRS By Greg Dixon
Ron Paul - the only Congressman to stand up against the IRS
By Greg Dixon
On February 13, 2001 at 8 am federal marshal’s backed up by approximately 100 Indianapolis city police swept down on the Indianapolis Baptist Temple after a 93 day siege. Worshippers had refused to surrender their sanctuary when Federal District Judge Sarah Evans Barker of Indianapolis had ordered the church to be padlocked and turned over to receivers on November 14, 2000 because the church refused to be a collecting and paying agency for the U.S. government for withholding and social security and Medicare taxes on those who ministered in the ministries of the church. The congregations’ position was very simple. If Caesar had taxes coming then he was fully capable of collecting them without any help from the Lord’s church. Tax collection wasn’t in the commission that the Lord Jesus Christ gave to His church at Matthew 28:18-20 or any other place in the scriptures.
To do so would have violated the central tenant of the Baptist Temple’s doctrinal stance and that was the Lordship of Christ over His blood bought assembly. The church doesn’t belong to Caesar it belongs to Christ. Should the Lord’s church collect taxes to pay for abortions support wars and every other sin known to God and man? God forbid. What individuals do is one thing, what the Lord’s church does is quite another.
The pastors and congregation appealed to the Indianapolis delegation in Congress including Senators Richard Lugar ( R ) and Evan Bayh (D). They appealed to Congress Dan Burton ( R ), Mike Pence ( R ) and the late Congresswoman Julia Carson (D) and received nothing but rebuffs. The same is true of the rest of the Indiana delegation and the other members of Congress including President William Jefferson Clinton and George W. Bush. Out of the entire Congress there was only one lone Congressman from Texas that dared speak up for us and that was Congressman Ron Paul. He is now asking to speak up for the entire nation from the oval office in the White House in Washington, D.C. On behalf of the pastors and congregation of the Indianapolis Baptist Temple I say lets give him that chance, let’s vote for the Constitution and real Religious Liberty in America. Vote Ron Paul in 2008.
IRS Church Seizure is a Tragedy for Religious Liberty
By Ron Paul
Reprinted from "Texas Straight Talk," the weekly column of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, Monday, February 26, 2001
February 13th [2001] marked a sad day for religious liberty in America, as the federal government took the unprecedented step of seizing a church to satisfy an alleged tax debt. Armed federal marshals forcibly removed parishioners and clergy from the Indianapolis Baptist Temple (IBT), bringing a close to years of legal challenges after the Supreme Court refused to hear an IBT appeal.
The state-loving media scarcely mentioned the IBT story, with brief articles predictably portraying the church as a fringe organization that avoided its taxes. This follows an established pattern of characterizing religious conservatives who protest the federal government as dangerous extremists, implicitly associated with militias and racists. Imagine the national media coverage, and resulting public outrage, if a minority church was seized over a refusal to pay taxes. Protestors supporting left-wing causes like abortion, affirmative action, environmentalism, feminism, AIDS, and animal rights consistently are shown as courageous martyrs fighting for principle against an unfeeling society and government. Conservative protestors, however, as shown as sinister bigots who selfishly refuse to follow benign laws and politically correct social needs.
The IBT story has resounded with many Americans, however. A strong undercurrent of dissent has manifested itself below the mainstream media radar on radio talk shows and websites. My office has received hundreds of angry letters, emails, and phone calls denouncing the government's actions. People of all faiths understand that the threat to religious liberty affects all Americans. No society can remain free if it lacks strong institutions to challenge an overreaching government.